she only loses her korean citizenship if she chooses to give it up to emigrate to another country. the simple act of marrying a non-korean doesn't mean anything in terms of citizenship for korean men or women. they can be married to a foreigner and still maintain citizenship for as long as they want to.

the reality is that a lot of korean women who marry foreign men do give up their citizenship....but it's their choice. most do it to gain citizenship from their husband's country.

run with the quality of life angle. worked for me. there's no question that the quality of life in the US or Canada is far better than in Corea...convince her that she'll be happier living in Canada.

tell her that you'll stay in korea for a few (3-4) years after you get married, and then you'll move back to canada for good. i thought my spouse wouldn't give up citizenship either, but 1 month of traveling around the states cured that. i promised to stay in korea for 3 years after we got married, and that compromise worked. i'm serving that 3-year sentence now.

well she can get landed immigrant status if/when you move to Canada. She won't be a citizen of canada but will effectively have a permanent visa/residency.

...and pay around $1500-2000 for the pleasure. Plus, I'd like to know what the guidelines are for leaving Canada after one has obtained residency (for a vacation and such). My wife applied last year, but after I decided that I missed Korea, we came back here (yes newbies, some people actually like it here. Korean citizenship? Now that's another matter).

I wish people wouldn't make those kinds of generalizations. I don't particularly relish the idea of living here long-term, but I have to consider the alternatives. Here, my husband works, and I can stay at home with the baby, always with the option of teaching English part-time to make extra money for us (and really, me part-time teaching ESL would probably end up making as much money as his full-time job). However, if we were to go back to Canada, I would have to work full-time and probably make shit money, and there would be nothing for him to do as his English isn't that great. You have to make some sacrifices sometimes.

...and pay around $1500-2000 for the pleasure. Plus, I'd like to know what the guidelines are for leaving Canada after one has obtained residency (for a vacation and such)

Once you obtain permanent residency you are free to travel. However, you must not be outside of Canada for an extended period of time (it's alot, like over 160 days in a year, or something like that...I'm not going to dig out my papers to find the right number)

If you went through the pain in the butt that it was to get the residency, surely you read about the leaving Canada part.

If you get the residency, and land, and then leave Canada (over the magic number of days) then you forfeit the residency status and must reapply.

I just finished this process with my husband. You are right about the $$. Pretty close to $2000.

Oh, and as far as citizenship goes, neither a man or a woman must give up their Korean citizenship. My husband doesn't intend to. Actually, he can hold dual citizenship in Canada, but if he returns to Korea, he would have to choose one or the other. There is an issue about children, though. I don't know if the laws have changed recently, but in the past, children born to foreign men do not have Korean status even though they were born here and their mother is Korean. this may have changed though as foreign male status has changed in the recent past (ie being able to have an F2)

hey Whiner welcome to the real world, it da BIG pain innit , friend ?
Many people on here seem to wonder why i appear so angst-ridden and bitter toward korea, whilst seemingly still 'tied' to it enough to keep writing on here. well, you 're getting into it now - yeah there's all the citizenship thing , but personally i think the biggest problem is the ethnocentricity problem. not racism , ethnocentricity - what am I saying ? you know the food problem, the inability of koreans to mix with others outside of their own country, the need to be close to their family and friends, the problem of if you do move back 'home' your g/ friend (future wife ) getting employment she actually likes if at all ....and on and on
see my point / It s not a good idea to lie or make false promises like how long you 'll stay in a few places ( 3-4 years ) , because problems like this run deep - you need to be clear where things are going before you jump in . etc. the problem will always remain of :

1) Can she survive outside a korean environment ( community/ language/ food/ 'culture') for ever , and if not , how can you resolve living in Korea REALLY long term .

2) Can you teach english in korea all your life ? if you can good luck to you . And if she can be happy eslewhere good luck to , but from what you've said, with all due respect to her, she 's sounds pretty high up on the ethnocentric league ( ie on the passport issue you stated for instance).

the journey is long , and not for the weak. if you aren't set on a very long korean sojourn , might be better to meet a girl who's very keen to get out of Korea - cold, but logical.

There is an issue about children, though. I don't know if the laws have changed recently, but in the past, children born to foreign men do not have Korean status even though they were born here and their mother is Korean. this may have changed though as foreign male status has changed in the recent past (ie being able to have an F2)

It's changed, they can hold dual-citizenship until they are 18 and then must choose. My daughter has both.

allz i know about this is you better build a strong bond between the two of you because the chips are stacked against you. i'm about to jump into it head first in a few months and i can't begin to realize how difficult it's going to be. but i can understand how she, being with you, will break the korean within her. it's a sensitive subject but the fact is...her "world" just won't be pure to the tunnel vision korean society. she will be breaking many ties to what she believes is her "great family." it's a hard thing to do. it's something you must understand and respect. because it is what you are entering. (understand but i'm not saying to follow.) the beauty of being out of the korean society is just that...you're out of it. the only draw-back is you will, unintentional, be taking her with you. not to mention your children (if you ever have one, or twenty .) they will never be korean. never. just like you will never be korean. that's one of the hardest things to understand coming from an open country like canada where one simply applies for a piece of paper and wammmmmo...you're now a full blood canadian.

The whole citizenship and where to live is a big issue in my and my wife's marriage (she is Korean and I am from the US).
We finally completed all of the paperwork and such and she is the proud owner of a Social Security card, a Resident Alien card (Green Card), and a Driver's Permit for NYS (she'll get her license later). So, now she can legally come and go to the States as she wishes, live here and work here. I hope she never gives up her Korean citizenship because right now she have the best of both worlds. Unrestricted travel into and out of Korea and the US. She can work here and in Korea. I would hate to see her have to get a tourist visa when she enters her homeland and hate to see her have to get a work visa in Korea.
As for myself, I have decided to teach here in New York. I have a good tenure track job and like the ability to get pay raises in a normal way, enjoy the quality of life, and later retire with a pension. Also, as a teacher in NY, I get great vacations... a week here and a week there as well as 2.5 months of summer during which I plan to go to Korea sometimes.
My wife and I are mature and communicate openly. When I married her, I knew it would be difficult to get her away from Korea... and that I didn't want to spend my entire professional life in Korea. So, what we do is live together some of the time and spend time apart some of the time. We trust each other and enjoy our time together. Our time apart is spent doing what we want. I study martial arts, work on my higher education, and set up our US life. She is currently teaching in Korea, studying traditional papermaking and calligraphy and spending time with her family. I expect she'll return in May or so to spend the summer and Fall with me.
Is it tough? Yes. However, in my experience, my Korean woman could never deal with a forced and total separation from Korea, no more than I could deal with it from the US. Each time she comes here, she stays a little longer and enjoys it more. Patience, communication, trust, and openness are the keys for us.

It's changed, they can hold dual-citizenship until they are 18 and then must choose. My daughter has both.

I also know another man with 2 girls and they both have dual.

Cool. Now that you say that, I think I have read that somewhere. After dealing with Canadian/Korean immigration for so long I'm starting to forget what's what.

And hey, Great Wall...I'm sure your arguement is not a great prophecy of doom like some posters might tend to think. My husband and I have had some pretty good fights over whatever Korean-Canadian issue you might mention. Things can get a little tense when you are talking about nationality/ family/ future living arrangements/ etc...just make sure that you both know where you stand on all the important issues. Best of luck.